REACH partnered with the Economic Development Collaborative, Monterey Bay Economic Partnership and hundreds of collaborators across all six counties in the greater Central Coast region to submit an application for the state’s Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF) program last week.
In all, 129 organizations and counting from over a dozen different community sectors and perspectives signed on to the partnership, aka the Uplift Central Coast Coalition.
What’s at stake: If approved, the coalition will receive up to $5 million to spearhead a 2-year outreach, research and planning initiative to create an inclusive strategy for ushering in a sustainable, equitable economic future for residents throughout Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. That process — emphasizing disinvested communities and others historically excluded from economic planning — in turn opens up the opportunity to apply for implementation grants from the $500 million CERF fund, as well as other sources.
Read the proposal’s executive summary for a high-level overview of the proposed planning approach, and get up to speed on CERF and the Uplift Coalition here.
We look forward to continuing to expand the coalition as we learn more about the status of our application in early fall.
